Mike Sheedy was born in Ireland and came to Springfield in 1872
to help build tracks for the extension of the old Atlantic and
Pacific Railroad from Rolla to Springfield.

He first homesteaded by the old Ingram School on the old Strafford road,
then acquired several hundred acres of property in the area. The R. T. French Co. is built on some of the property formerly owned by the Sheedys.

They moved into the Headley estate in 1950 after doing extensive
renovations and remodeling.
Members of the family living together then included sons Emmett,
Simon, Mike, and James, and daughters Margaret, Helen and Agnes. A son,
John, had married and moved to Chicago and a daughter Kate, also had married.
Kate was the only one whose children survived, and they are the nieces
and nephews who have inherited the estate.

The huge farm began declining about 15 years ago when Mike, the last son, died. The women were forced to rely on hired help from then on.
Remember that they had four other farms in the area, too. So it was no
easy task for them.

They sold 550 acres they owned elsewhere to the Frisco Industrial
Development Corp., which later sold some of the property to R. T. French Co.
Springlawn itself has 338 acres and extends from Greenlawn Cemetary to
the Sac River, Hulston said, and is over a half mile east to west. "It's the
last of the large farms bordering Springfield," he said.

They were hardworking farm people, the Sheedys. The basis of the
second generation's fortune was hard work and the family's real estate.

The farm is now owned by
Hulston Investments INC.
PO BOX 10226
Kansas City MO. 64171

THERE IS NO TRESSPASSING ON THE FARM AND THEY WILL NOT GIVE OUT
PERMISSION TO ENTER THE PROPERTY.

No suspects have been arrested in connection with a fire set on
the old Sheedy farm north of Greenlawn Cemetery.

Bill Zieres, investigator for the state fire marshal's office, said
the house roof was burned off and that the second floor received heavy damage.
The fire in the house definitely was set by arsonists who put straw in a
second-floor closet and set it on fire, Zieres said. The barn was destroyed.

The property has been vacant since January of 1979. No owner
of record is listed because the estate is in probate, Zieres said.

The original call about 3 a.m. Monday was to the barn fire. Zieres
and Deputy Sheriff Lowell Heerman found the fire in the house. Firemen
from Ebenezer, Pleasant View and Civil Defense fought the fires.

Same day different paper.

The 100-year-old house on the old Sheedy farm north of Greenlawn Cemetery was destroyed by fire earlier today.

It could not be determined if the blaze was set by arsonists, sheriff's
deputies said, because the house was burned to the ground.Labor Day blazes, believed to have been set by arsonists, destroyed the roof of the house,
heavily damaged the second floor and destroyed a barn on the property. A
neighbor who woke up and saw the fire about 5:30 a.m. today told deputies
the house was engulfed in flames. Volunteer firefighters reached the scene in
six minutes, deputies said, but they were too late to save the structure.

Firemen from Ebenezer, Pleasant View, Civil Defense and Fair Grove answered
the call. John O'Gorman, one of the seven heirs of the estate, said the appraised value of the house was about $20,000, but that it would cost about $200,000 to rebuild.The two-story house had 11 rooms, an attic, and a full basement.

It was built in 1880, but the Sheedy family completely remodeled and enlarged
the house after buying it in 1950. The last resident, Helen Sheedy, died in
January of 1979. O'Gorman said vandals began breaking windows and tearing down fireplaces about 1½ years ago, after a public sale was held. Electrical power
to the house was disconnected after the sale.

It was apparent that many people have been using the vacant land. But local historians agree that any possibility of an "albino farm" being at the location
are nil, zip, nada. John K. Hulston, longtime Springfield attorney and chronicler of Ozarks history, talked with the son of one of the seven Sheedy siblings. He learned that at best, the family may have had one albino "hand" working on the
farm at one time rumors and legends of the farm.

Most of us like to have legends that scare us, but this was a real, hard-working farm family whose remaining descendents are heartbroken at the lies spread about their beloved ancestors. Urban legends are not just fun or scary--they're often about real people, and they can wound.